Internet connections are getting faster and faster, but this opportunity shouldn’t become an excuse to eliminate a very important process like image Compression. As the web speeds up, users’ attention spans are shrinking; in a recent study, it was found that 47% of users preferred browsing websites that had a loading speed of 2 seconds or less. At the same time, given the increasing size of mobile device screens and the growing popularity of Retina display screens, users are expecting higher image quality than ever before.
Importance of image compressing in image editing
Avoid bounces: The web page goes like a turtle and, therefore, takes a long time to load, generates a very high bounce rate. We already know that patience is not our strong suit, and users leave the page when they are slow to access the content. And we don’t want to lose users due to slow loading!
Positioning: Google search engines rate web pages based on loading speeds. Therefore, the less weight the images have, the higher the web’s score and the more good position we will have.
Different devices: the browsing trend shifts towards mobile devices that already outperform computer browsing. But the browsing speed from these devices (3G or 4G) is lower than broadband or fiber optics. Therefore, putting images that weigh less will help the loading of the web on mobile phones.
Reduce the file size: The most important advantage of compressing images is to reduce the file size. Depending on the type of file you are compressing, you can continuously compress the image until it is the size you need.
Reducing the file size reduces the space that image files use on your hard drive. Reducing the file size has many advantages, especially on the web. This allows webmasters to create image-rich sites without consuming a lot of hosting space or allocating bandwidth.
Faster download speed: Some electronic devices (cameras, phones, computers, etc.) slow down the loading of large uncompressed photos. For example, there are restrictions on reading data from a CD player. These CD players cannot display large images correctly.
Slow data transfer Some web hosting services also require compressed images to create efficient websites that load faster than competing websites. The hard drive also tries to mount the uncompressed file. Image compression speeds up data downloads on slow devices.
Adapt the sizes to each screen
Currently, web pages are viewed on multiple screens, such as large monitors, tablets, or small mobile devices. It is advisable to use different image resolutions for each device, as long as the editing or layout program allows it. In this way, we will avoid that on a mobile device; for example, with a screen resolution of 360 pixels, it loads the same image that we show 1900 pixels on a computer screen.
Different types of files
In this article, we are going to focus on three file types which are the most used file types in web design. Generally, if the image has more contrast, it is necessary that the image is actually recorded with higher quality, which is possible using programs like Watermarkly. The three types of files discussed here are widely used in web design.
JPEG (Joint Group of Photographic Experts)
It uses lossy compression to reduce the size of the image file greatly. The biggest advantage of JPEG formats is that it gives you the flexibility to decide the degree of image Compression used. The result is better image quality, especially if used correctly. This also results in the smallest size that is reasonable enough to support the image quality.
GIF (graphic exchange format)
This image format is a raster format and was introduced by CompuServe in 1987. Supports up to 8 bits per pixel. This means that certain images in this format can support different colors of 256 RGB. The best thing you can do with GIF format is to be able to animate the image.
PNG (Portable Network Graphics)
This is another bitmap format. However, instead of using lossy compression, use lossless compression. PNG has been formatted to replace the GIF format. Internet Explorer has not supported PNG format for a long time. This is why its use is less common than in JPEG and GIF formats. However, it is now supported by the most popular web browsers.
The PNG format supports palette-based colors. It can be 32-bit RGBA or 24-bit RGB. It can also be in grayscale, RGB, and RGBA color spaces.
Conclusion: If you don’t worry about what kind of compression to use for a variety of image types, you will get these two things: First, the images will look worse than they used to be. Second, the image file size will be more prominent after compressing. Therefore, image Compression is necessary for image editing.
This is a Contributor Post. Opinions expressed here are opinions of the Contributor. Influencive does not endorse or review brands mentioned; does not and cannot investigate relationships with brands, products, and people mentioned and is up to the Contributor to disclose. Contributors, amongst other accounts and articles may be professional fee-based.